Ski Lodge Mystery
by lnvaderZlM
Summary: Muffy throws a private party for her friends at her family's ski lodge! All is well, until a mysterious person begins picking the children off one by one. To make matters worse, a blizzard prevents the kids from venturing outside to get help! Can Fern catch the killer? Or will she watch her friends die, one by one?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey! So I'm sorta new to this fanfic thing, still trying to figure out how all these buttons work lol. Anyway, I can't even remember the last time I tried to write a story! Fourth grade was the last time I remember doing something like that. But I want to be a good writer, so please be as brutal as possible! Any tips you can give me would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance!  
****Oh, and also: Fern's one of my favorite characters! So that's why I made a fanfic with her as the central character. Aaaand, that's all I had to say. On to the story! I'll try to finish it by the end of the month lol. OH one more thing: I have a general idea of how I want the story to go, but there's a possibility of me editing this chapter to have the later chapters make more sense lol. I'm posting this now because I'm impatient and want feedback already!**

It was Friday. Everyone in Mr. Ratburn's class was excited for the party at the Crosswire's ski lodge after school, hosted by none other than Muffy. She had her father reserve the lodge for all of her friends for the weekend. Invitations were sent via notes in people's lockers (or, in Ratburn's case, via the student mail carrier).

"I can't believe Muffy has her own ski lodge!" Francine exclaimed, making no effort to conceal her excitement.

"Yeah, I'll bet there's gonna be a pool, the latest video games, an ice rink…" Arthur says dreamily.

"And food! So much food!" Buster adds, drooling.

Fern sighed. She didn't need fancy, gaudy things to make her happy. All she needed was a pen, some paper, and a shelf filled with poetry collections and mystery novels. She declined the invitation, preferring to spend the weekend working on her latest _Oiteau_ mystery, but when her mother heard of the party, she immediately conscripted her daughter to go. _How typical of her – always trying to make me more sociable than I want to be _Fern thought. She remembered a time when the thought of speaking up terrified her. "Invisible", she would describe herself. Her mother sought to resolve this by forcing her to throw a slumber party, inviting all the girls in her class. The party began a disaster, but upon being given a chance to show off her detective skills, the girls warmed up to her.

Nowadays, though she is still far from being as popular as Arthur or as outspoken as Francine, she at least isn't afraid of mixing with her peers and speaking her mind. She would go so far as to say she enjoys doing so – scaring the pants off of her friends with her stories is always fun! But a _party _seemed like too much. Her slumber party was a success, but only because she was able to impress her friends with her detective skills. She couldn't hope for such a chance occurrence to happen again.

"By the way, why isn't Muffy here to tell us the news in person?" asked Arthur.

_That _is _a little strange, _Fern thought. _It could be to set up the party, but is that really a valid excuse to miss school? "Because I had to prepare for the party?"_

"I don't know, probably to pick out a dress or something." replied Francine. "What _I'm _more surprised about is that she invited Mr. Ratburn!"

"He's the _chaperone,_ Francine." explained Brain.

"Whatever that means."

"It means he's gonna watch over us for the duration of the party. I guess Mr. and Mrs. Crosswire are gonna be busy this weekend."

As her classmates continued to chat, mostly about silly things like what they were going to wear, Fern was absorbed in thought. This was way too suspicious. Why _didn't_ Muffy come to pass out invitations herself? That was completely unlike her. She _lives _for the spotlight – she would never miss handing out invitations to a fancy party to the praise and worship of her classmates. Not to mention her lack of a legitimate excuse for not coming to school.

"Hey, Mr. Ratburn?" Fern asks. "Why isn't Muffy at school today?"

"I called her house, but the butler answered. He just said that she and her parents were 'out'. It's probably as Francine says – they're preparing for the party." Mr. Ratburn replies.

"Is that really an excuse to miss school?"

"Absolutely not, but there's nothing we can do if they don't answer the phone. You can rest assured that I will give her a stern talking to at the party, though!"

Fern still wasn't completely convinced. She felt something was wrong, _horribly _wrong. But she dismissed it as the result of reading too many mystery novels.

Maria, the rabbit girl that doesn't talk much (more so out of a lack of anything to say than out of shyness) walked up to her. "Hey," she says. "You goin' to Muffy's party?"

"Yeah, my mom's forcing me to…" Fern groaned.

"What?! Your mom had to _force _you to go? Most people would jump at the chance to spend the weekend at a fancy ski lodge!"

"Yeah? Well I'm not 'most people'. I wanted to spend the weekend working on my latest mystery novel."

"Oh yeah, I heard about those. 'Virgule Oiteau', right? Everyone loves your stories." The bell rang. "Oh well, see ya at the party!"

"You got invited? I'm surprised. I didn't know Muffy even knew your name."

"Yup! I'm ridin' with Brain's folks. See ya!"

Fern walked over to Arthur's car. She would ride with them to Muffy's ski lodge party. Joining them were Francine, Buster, and Sue Ellen. In Brain's car were Binky, Maria, and George. Lastly, in Mr. Ratburn's car were Jenna and Prunella.

The drive took three hours. Fern watched as civilization slowly dissolved into snowy trees and bushes. _If something happens to us, no one will know until Monday…_ Fern suddenly heard herself think. The thought spooked her, but she shook the feeling. She looked at the others in the car, chatting and laughing. They didn't seem to be worried – so why should she?

"You're awfully quiet back there, Fern. Everything okay?" Sue Ellen asks, concerned.

"Oh, y-yeah, I'm fine. Just taking in the scenery is all." Fern replies.

"Hey look, a moose!" Francine says, pointing out the window.

Soon, everyone was looking out the window, trying to spot more animals. Even Fern joined the hunt, forgetting all about her silly suspicions.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Tried making this chapter a bit longer. I appreciate all the reviews! I'm sorta trying to incorporate them. I've been told on my other fic that my chapters are too short too lol, so I'm trying to make them longer and longer. And I dunno about adding a twist, cause I already have an idea set in stone regarding who the killer is going to be. I actually do have a backup killer in mind though lol. And it'd still fit with the story and be a more of a surprise at the end. In fact, as I wrote this note, I just came up with an idea for a twist lol. It's still a little early in the story, though, so I have no idea what ending I'll choose.**

They arrived at about 5:30 P.M. Everyone rushed to the lodge entrance. Fern, George, and Maria took their time, and chatted on the way.

"Hey George. How was the trip?" Fern asks, casually.

"Oh, hey Fern. Pretty quiet. The four of us hadn't really hung out much, so we didn't have anything to talk about." George replied.

"It was pretty crowded in the back, what with Binky taking up so much space…" Maria complained.

"Oh, hey Maria, I didn't notice you there." said Fern.

"Yeah, I get that a lot. _You _used to get that a lot too, I recall. What's your secret?" she joked.

"Hehe. Have your mom force you to throw a slumber party."

Just then, they arrived at the entrance to the lodge. Everyone was gathered outside – there was a note on the door. It read:

_Hey! The inside's not ready yet. Here's some ski equipment – go start without me!  
-Muffy_

Everyone started taking the equipment and heading to the mountain. Didn't they see how suspicious this was? Fern wanted to scream at them, tell them that's something's wrong. But they'd probably just laugh at her. She sighed and grabbed some equipment. May as well have some fun while she's here…

"Hey, Fern." Brain walked up to her.

"Oh, hi Brain!"

In a whisper, he voices his concerns. "_This seems a little suspicious, doesn't it?_"

Fern nodded, glad that at least _someone _wasn't too overwhelmed by all the fanciness to notice these things. "_Should we tell the others?_"

He shook his head. "_No, what good would stirring them up do? It's probably nothing, anyway, but just to be sure, I want you to keep an eye out for anything strange."_

"_Will do."_

"Hey! Hurry up, the ski lift's coming!" Arthur called out. Fern and Brain jogged up to the rest of the group.

Before Arthur could get on the ski lift, Fern stopped him. "Erm, hang on, I…think that's an antique! Let me inspect it…" Fern checked for any traps or signs of tampering. She didn't find anything out of the ordinary, though she had never seen a ski lift chair before so she didn't know what "ordinary" looked like. "Oh, never mind, looks like I was mistaken." Arthur gave her a look. Brain pulled her aside.

"_Don't be so conspicuous about it! Whoever's plotting this whole thing might be onto us!"_

_"Sorry."_

* * *

They skied until it got dark, then headed back to the lodge at about 6:30. The note was gone and the door was wide open, as if beckoning them to come in.

"Wow!"

The kids cooed at all the fancy, shiny things in the lodge.

"Check it out! A _solid gold _vase!" Arthur held up an expensive looking antique.

"Whoa! A hot tub!" Francine and Jenna dipped their hands in the warm, bubbling water.

"Hmm, this is 'The Birth of Venus' by Sandro Botticelli, and this is 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' by Johannes Vermeer." Binky identifies two historic looking paintings; George looks on in shock.

"Wow! Look at all this food!" Buster has discovered the dinner table, and it was lined with a banquet of food: roast pork, sirloin steak, green bean casserole; food as far as the eye can see. Suddenly, the kids remembered how hungry they were, and everyone pulled up a seat and dug in. Fearing the food may be poisoned, Fern checked every dish. The soup was the most dangerous: detecting poison in it is nearly impossible without equipment. She would just have to steer the rest of the gang away from eating the soup, which shouldn't be hard, as it seemed to be some gross vegan thing.

Though the rest of the food seemed clean, Fern herself ate sparingly, carefully inspecting each bite she took, in case she missed something. Fortunately, no one seemed to be going for the soup. Fern relaxed a bit, chatting with Sue Ellen on what they were going to do tomorrow. The two had been close ever since the whole "Popular Girls" incident, where they tried to trade personalities in order to become "popular". Soon, it was bedtime, and Muffy was _still _nowhere to be seen. Each girl received a room assignment on their invitation, meaning Muffy must have _planned _to not greet them at all. Fern went to her room: A113. Buster was right next door.

"Hey, Fern!" he called out. "Where do you think Muffy is? Think this is a case for Elwood City's crack detective duo?"

For a moment, Fern thought of voicing her and Brain's suspicions regarding her disappearance. After all, they _did _make a pretty good team solving the mystery of the "Binky Rules" graffiti. But in that case, there was never any risk of harm; a few bruises, maybe, if Fern's theory of a rival school framing Binky turned out to be true, but this time, _lives _are at stake. And let's face it – Buster gets scared too easily. Plus, the less people who know about this, the better. Buster would panic if he found out a killer could be on the loose, and that would ruin the whole case.

"Nah, she probably just wasn't feeling well." Fern lied perfectly. "She wouldn't want us to see her sick as a dog!"

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Still, I wonder where she is…" Fern noticed a twinkle in his eyes. He was thinking of something. Pondering the situation? Fern wondered if he'd arrive at the same conclusion she and Brain did: something's wrong.

Buster yawned. "Oh well, time for bed!"

Fern yawned as well. "Well, _maybe _I'll help you look for her tomorrow."

"Okay."

They entered their respective rooms. Fern just lay on her bed and thought. There was no proof yet that anything was wrong; just evidence. It _is _possible that Muffy really was sick and couldn't meet them the entire day. But who prepared the food then? Fern answered the question herself – her parents were probably here helping her set up. After they set the food down in the warmers, they'd be good for practically the entire day. But who would clean up? Mr. Ratburn? Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door.

"Come in!" Fern called. It was Brain. "Hey, Brain, what's up?"

"Hey, Fern. Were you able to find anything suspicious?"

"Nope, you?"

"Nope. Hm, maybe it really is just an innocent party."

"Maybe." But Fern didn't buy it one bit.

"Well, no use worrying about it now. Best we just get some sleep."

"Mmm. Night, Brain."

"Good night."

Brain left. He was right – they had no concrete evidence. She thought of everything that had happened that day, mentally retraced all of her steps, and couldn't find anything. Fern decided to call it a night. She dressed into her night gown, lay on her bed, and let sleep take her…

* * *

A piercing scream jolted her awake.

"ree-YAAAAAAUGHHH!"

She instantly recognized the voice.

"_Buster_" she whispered.

In a heartbeat, she threw off her covers and flung her door open. Francine was faster – she was already running down the hall towards the scream. Fern took off after her, and was followed by the rest of the gang. She glanced at the clock: 1:00 AM it read. She turned the corner and nearly slammed her face into Francine's back. Francine was staring in horror at something – it was Buster, face down on the ground, a bloody knife protruding from his back. Francine was hysterical – she dropped to her knees, shoulders shaking violently, erratically. She reached out to touch him, but Fern stopped her.

"This is a crime scene – don't tamper with anything. Now, you were the first to arrive; did you see anyone suspicious? Hear any footsteps?"

"N-no, I didn't see anyone, and the only footsteps I heard were you guys behind me. But, _GOD, _Fern, he twitched! He twitched when I got here! Oh my _god_."

"Calm down, we'll find out who did this." By now, the rest of the group caught up, each one gasping in shock and horror as they realized what had shaken up Francine. Arthur threw up in a nearby potted plant; George's nose started bleeding like crazy; Maria broke down crying; Prunella and Jenna had their hands over their mouths, tears rolling down their cheeks, shoulders heaving. She thought Brain would cry, too, as he tended to scare easily. Fern remembered his crazy scream when she convinced him that worms were taking over the world. She would have laughed right then if not for the gruesome situation before them.

Brain checked Buster's pulse, and relayed the news everyone expected: "He's dead," he declares. "Cause of death: the knife, time: " he checked a clock. 1:05 AM it read. "about 1:00 AM. Does anyone know why he was out of his room?"

"He was investigating…" Fern said, remembering the twinkle in his eye. "He basically told me he was going to look for Muffy before bed. He must have found something…"

_Yes, _Fern thought. This all added up. There's no way the killer, who had set this whole party up so cleverly, so carefully…there was no way he or she would kill someone like this, where they had such a high chance of getting caught. This kill wasn't plotted, it was out of necessity.

Just then, Binky turned the corner. He jumped when he saw Buster's body.

"WAHHHH!" he screamed. Everyone jumped back defensively, thinking he was the killer. After all, he came in from the opposite direction; obviously not from the bedrooms. Fern suddenly looked around her – Sue Ellen and Mr. Ratburn were missing, too.

_Stupid! _Fern scolded herself. She should have checked who ran out of the bedrooms in the beginning. Now, the killer would have had time to kill Buster, run around to the bedrooms, and join the rest of the group as if they were there the whole time. Then again, Binky may have been the killer, but judging from the genuine look of surprise on his face (plus his…goofiness), Fern doubted it. But that didn't stop the rest of the gang from panicking.

"AHHH Binky's gonna kill us all!" They were about to scatter in random directions when Fern yelled out to them.

"STOP!" Fern yelled. Her fierce tone, as well as the sheer volume of the shout, stopped the kids in their tracks. "Binky's not the killer. At least, he's _probably _not. Binky, what were you doing out of bed?"

"I-I was just getting a glass of water!"

"Oh? And where is this _glass_?" Arthur asked, accusingly.

"I drank it and put it in the sink!"

"Liar!" Arthur got ready to attack Binky.

"Enough! We can't afford to fight amongst ourselves! That's what the killer wants – it makes us easier targets." Fern said with authority. A small part of Fern was glad that Buster wasn't around to challenge her authority as a detective or confuse everyone with his gibberish. She immediately regretted thinking that, though.

"Well I'm not going anywhere near Binky unless we prove he's not the real killer!"

The rest of the kids agreed with Arthur.

"Fine," Fern said. "Let's head to the kitchen and see if Binky's story checks out. According to him, there _should _be a glass in the sink. Stay together – no one wander off alone."

They assumed a tight formation and headed to the kitchen. Sniffles were heard throughout the group – most, if not all, were still thinking about Buster's untimely death.

Sure enough, when they got there, an empty glass was in the sink.

"See? I told you so!" Binky said. The other kids grudgingly accepted that Binky wasn't the killer.

"So who is it, then?" Maria asked the question that was on everybody's mind.

"Right now, our prime suspects are Mr. Ratburn, Sue Ellen, and Muffy. But the truth is, _any one of us could be the killer_." Fern said ominously. She glanced around the room; many of them gulped audibly. "Our first priority should be to find the missing people. I don't mean to sound grim, but…expect the worst. At this moment, whoever goes missing will either be the killer, or be dead." More gulps, tears roll down a few of their cheeks. As they exit the kitchen and head out through the dining room, they stumble upon Mr. Ratburn.

"_Oh my gosh,_" Arthur whispered.

"_Geez!_ I never liked the guy, but I never wanted him dead!" Prunella cried out.

Mr. Ratburn's corpse confirmed Fern's suspicion that Buster's death was a panic kill. This kill was much cleaner – quick, silent, inconspicuous; how she pictured everyone's death here would be, if the killer was left unchecked. Mr. Ratburn's throat was slit. Buster must have seen it, causing the killer to chase after him, and eventually stab him in the back. Brain quickly checked his pulse, _a mere formality, _Fern thought. They both knew you don't have your throat slit and lose that much blood and live to tell the tale.

"He's dead." he announced the obvious. Regardless, everyone gasped.

There was no time to mourn. Fern had a hunch. "Follow me. I think I know where Sue Ellen is." Fern hoped she was wrong.

She took a quick mental photograph of the room before leaving. She would investigate later - for now, she was worried about her friend.

* * *

A few minutes later, they found themselves back at the bedrooms. Fern knocked on Sue Ellen's door.

"Sue Ellen, you in there? I'm opening the door, okay?" She did so, and found what she expected: Sue Ellen, laying on the bed, _dead_.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Another chapter! Ahahah, it was so hard keeping track of who was alive and who wasn't. And there were two times where I forgot a character when assigning them to a group. Hope there aren't any more errors like that! Also, last chapter's almost done. After a lot of thinking, I decided who the killer would be. Oh, and also, I think I forgot to mention this in the beginning, but a _lot _of this is based off of this "Choose Your Own Adventure" game I played on Neopets a looooong time ago lol. I can't find it anymore, though, which makes me sad. **

"But…how?" Francine asked, still in shock at losing two friends and her teacher in one night.

_How did she die, or how did I find out she died? _Fern thought. Fern decided to answer both questions.

"The soup last night – it was vegan, wasn't it? Sue Ellen's a vegan. She must have eaten some while I wasn't looking. Soup is one of the easiest foods to poison – nearly impossible to detect without equipment." Fern explained. Another clean kill by whoever was targeting them.

Fern gathered the kids in the living room. She did a quick headcount – She, Brain, Francine, Arthur, Binky, Prunella, Jenna, George, and Maria were present. Muffy was still missing.

"Muffy's gotta be the killer! She's the only one that hasn't been accounted for this whole trip!" Arthur declared.

"I still say it's Binky! He could've drank water and killed Buster and Ratburn on his way back!"

Everyone was slapping around accusations like crazy.

Fern doubted that Muffy was the killer. She was way out of character, inviting us blindly to her party and not even showing up to greet us. The real Muffy would rub her money in our faces as often as she could.

But then who were the prime suspects? Fern pondered a moment. Binky's got the strength and finesse, having practiced ballet and played the clarinet, and ironically, she had used him to portray master thief Gray Dove in her stories. But Binky wasn't too bright.

Brain had the brains (obviously), brawn, and vengeful spirit to pull something like this off. She remembered the time he messed with Muffy by writing her fake love notes. And all three of the confirmed dead people have wronged him at least once: Sue Ellen was knowledgeable about many things that Brain was not; Buster had disagreed with him on several movies; and just last week, Mr. Ratburn gave him an A- on his report on the solar system. Fern decided to keep an eye on Brain.

And there's also the possibility that the killer was a stranger – some psychotic serial killer, perhaps, that gets pleasure out of killing children. Fern couldn't rule that out.

Anyway, Fern didn't have conclusive evidence. So for now, she set some ground rules.

"All right, settle down people. We don't know who the killer is. All we can do right now is try to make sure no one else dies. Now, it's way too cold outside for us to make our way back to the main road to get help, and no one's phone is getting any reception. We're going to have to spend the night here."

The kids immediately complained about that. No one wanted to stay trapped in a ski lodge with a killer!

"Enough. If anyone ventures out there, they'll freeze to death, and that'll make the killer's life easier. Now for some ground rules. First, no one is to wander around alone. If we travel in groups, the killer won't be able to take us out silently. Second, we take turns sleeping. Half of us will watch over the other half, and then switch every two hours. I, Brain, Maria, and George will take the first shift. In two hours, we'll switch with Arthur, Prunella, Binky, and Jenna. Lastly, suspect _everyone_. Don't have your back exposed to someone else unless absolutely necessary, especially if you're alone with that person. Any questions?"

Silence.

"Okay, Arthur, Prunella, Binky, Francine, and Jenna – get some sleep. Me, Brain, Maria, and George will watch over you."

The five of them lay down, but none of them could sleep, for fear of never waking up. Soon, exhaustion overtook fear, and they finally drifted off.

Fern sat in a corner, back to the wall, watching the kids sleep. The other three "watchers" joined her. A blizzard was raging outside; even when the sun comes up, it'll be too cold and deadly to venture out. She remembered what she thought in the car: _If something happens to us, no one will know until Monday…_

Brain brought her back to Earth. "So, Fern, any leads?" he asked.

She almost told him _he _was the prime suspect, but Fern caught herself. "None so far."

"Are we gonna die…?" George asked fearfully.

Fern wanted to say no, that they were all going to get out alive, but she wasn't so sure. She and George had role played as detectives many times, and Fern herself was a rather accomplished sleuth already, but none of those accomplishments dealt with crimes this intricate or serious.

"Of course not, George! We have Fern on the case." Brain reassured him for her. It worked – George looked relieved. She hoped she wouldn't let him down…

The four kids huddled together for warmth. Soon, two hours had passed, and it was time for Fern's group to sleep and Arthur's group to stand watch. Fern was still tense from the events of the day, but soon, she fell asleep.

* * *

She was shaken awake about an hour later.

"Nnnngh…huh?" she mumbled. Francine was the one who woke her up.

"Fern…something happened!"

"What?"

"Well, I figured there had to be a landline somewhere in the lodge – one that we could use to call the police – so our group decided to go out and look for it, but-"

"Wait, you _left us _alone as you searched?"

"No! We left Prunella here to watch over you, but that's just the thing – she's gone now!"

Something cold and prickly worked its way up Fern's spine. She looked around her – Binky, Jenna, and Arthur had just woken George, Maria, and Brain up. So everyone was accounted for.

"You should've woken us up…" Fern was furious.

"I know, I know, but we thought you guys needed the sleep! Besides, we stayed in groups like you said! It's Prunella's fault for wandering off on her own."

Fern wanted to slap her. If Prunella was the killer, she could have killed Fern's group as they slept, then disappeared! Francine's negligence infuriated her. She gave up her plan of sleep shifts and decided to organize a search party for Prunella.

They kept the same groups as before: Arthur's group (Arthur, Binky, Jenna, and Francine) would search the first floor while Fern's group (Fern, Brain, Maria, and George) would search the second. They parted ways at the stairs.

The second floor consisted mainly of bedrooms and studies.

"Let's check everybody's bedroom, you know, to see if there's any evidence of them being the killer." George suggested. His other three group members agreed. They searched Arthur's room, Francine's, Brain's, even Fern's. At the end of it all, they still lacked the evidence to accuse anybody. Then they happened upon a fancy, golden door…

_MAC, _the plaque above the door read. The door was way too heavy for Fern to push open alone.

"Hey, guys! Gimme a hand here!" she called for her three friends to help. They pushed with all their might, but the door wouldn't budge.

"Wait. On the count of three, we all push as hard as we can, okay?" Brain instructed. "One…two…three!" The four children shoved the door with all their might, and it finally opened. A bit too suddenly, perhaps, as the children immediately fell to the floor. When they looked up, however, they saw…

_"Muffy…"_ George said breathlessly.

That did it for Brain. He let out the weird scream everyone knew and loved. "AHHHHHH-AAAAAUGH" he ran out of the room in a frenzy. Maria and George followed suit. Fern tried to stop them, but failed.

_Great,_ she thought. They were separated – easy pickings for the killer. Fern cautiously took another look at Muffy – she nearly threw up. Muffy was tied to a chair, blindfolded and obviously beaten several times with what Fern suspected was the bloody baseball bat in the corner. The worst part, though, and what nearly caused Fern to vomit, was that there was a hole where her chest was supposed to be, and the words "HEARTLESS B*TCH" written on the walls in blood. Fern took a quick look around the room and left, not being able to bear staying in there any longer. She wiped the sweat off her neck, but nicked something. A small scab, it felt like, on her neck. A pimple? She shrugged, she'd worry about acne later. She started looking for her other three group members.

"Brain? George? Maria? Come on, didn't I say to stick together?" Fern called out. She heard crying coming from the bathroom – definitely Maria's.

"Maria? You okay in there?" Fern was about to barge in, but remembered: _Everyone's _a suspect. She entered more cautiously, making sure she would be able to run away if necessary.

"Oh, Fern, who's doing this? Who would do this to their friends?" she sputtered between sobs.

"Maria, calm down, we're going to find whoever did this, and we're getting out of here alive, okay? Now come on, we need to find Brain and George."

Fern's reassuring voice calmed Maria down. She got up and washed her face, then the two girls combed the hallways for Brain and George. It didn't take long to find Brain, who had calmed down and was wandering the halls fearfully, looking for his team.

"Brain!" Fern called. Brain jumped when he heard his name.

"Guys!" Ecstatic about finding they were still alive, he ran to them.

"Have you seen George?" Fern asked. Brain shook his head. Suddenly, a scream echoed upwards from the first floor.

"HELP! Jenna's dead! Help!" it was Arthur screaming.

"Sounds like trouble." Maria said. The trio ran downstairs towards the source of the sound, hoping George had heard it, too, and was making his way there. The scream apparently came from the staircase. Jenna lay at the bottom, her body battered, her neck twisted in a sickening angle. Fern immediately started down the stairs toward her, but slipped on the second step – she started falling, _fast_; at this rate, she was going to hit the floor hard. Thankfully, Binky was there to catch her.

"You all right?"

"Yeah…thanks. Watch out for that second step, it's really slippery!"

Brain examined the step carefully. He slid a finger over it and sniffed – "Antler polish…" he said.

"Antlers like…George?" Maria stated what was on everyone's mind.

"Where _is_ George?" Francine asked.

"We scattered when we saw Muffy's corpse. It was…a pretty grisly sight. We were still looking for him when you guys called out." Fern answered.

Arthur's group reacted in shock.

"George is the killer! George is the killer!" Binky started shouting.

"Stop it! That could've been anyone's antler polish!" Fern defended George.

"Actually…that _was _his antler polish. Or, it smells the same as the one I borrowed from him for a science project one time." Brain said.

Fern was dumbstruck. The evidence was pretty overwhelming. George definitely had knowledge of these things – Fern had taught him many tricks when they role played together as Oiteau and Bastings. And he definitely had the motive: maybe George never got over how everyone laughed at him for his nosebleeds, or how people always seemed to forget about him. Then another thought occurred to Fern.

"Why was Jenna alone?"

"We…sort of scattered when we found Prunella's corpse… She must have decided to go upstairs to get you guys. We heard her falling down the stairs." Francine said.

"Where did you find Prunella, when did you find her, and how did she die?" Fern asked, hoping there would be a clue in her death.

"We found her corpse stowed in a closet right around the corner of where we were sleeping. There was a needle in her neck." Francine reported.

_Great, _Fern thought. _No clues, just further proof that they were dealing with a professional._

As if on cue, the power went out, leaving the kids in the dark, the only light coming from what little shone through the blizzard outside.

"AHHHH, WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" Binky shouted.

The other kids screamed as well, and it looked like they were going to scatter. Fern knew that if they did, they'd be easy pickings for the killer.

"No, everyone calm down and stay put! I brought a flashlight, we just need to grab it from my room and make our way to the generator to get the power back on." Fern said.

"Screw that, I'm not gonna stay here and die!" Arthur shrieked. "I'm getting the _hell_ out of here!" Arthur smashed the window, letting in the sounds of the howling blizzard outside.

"Arthur, no! You're gonna freeze to death out there!" Fern yelled. Arthur ignored her, jumped out, and disappeared into whiteness.

Binky, Brain, Francine, and Maria stared at the window, as if pondering whether to jump out after Arthur. "Come on, guys, let's get the power back on." Fern tried to turn their attention away from the window and certain death. They decided to take their chances with the killer, realizing the chances of them surviving out there were a lot slimmer.

They hoped they made the right choice.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Another chapter! Sorry if it seemed Brain talked too much lol. Also, after reading some of the reviews, I thought I should clarify something. Maria isn't the blind rabbit girl that's friends with Prunella (****_Her _****name is ****_Marina_**** - I actually forgot she existed lol, and I can see how the two would get confused, seeing as I described her as a rabbit, and they're both rabbits). Anyway, the Maria that I was talking about is the background character in Mr. Ratburn's class. Or, that's what the wiki named her. **

"Stay close together. No one wander off alone." Fern ordered. She took out her phone. The battery was almost dead, and there was still no reception, but the dim light it provided proved useful. She held her phone out in front of her and led the way to her room. The other four kids followed warily behind. Fern made sure to check behind her often, to make sure everyone was still there.

"_I'm scared…_" Binky whispered. Fern hoped he could keep it together – she remembered Arthur telling her Binky was afraid of the dark.

"Don't be such a _baby._" Francine whispered harshly. The two went back and forth with insults, but apart from that, they made it to Fern's room with no problems. Fern took her flashlight out and hit the power.

"Okay, now, anyone have any idea where the generator would be?" Fern asked. The kids looked at each other in silence.

Finally, Francine spoke up. "It'd probably be in the basement, right?" she said. "My aunt's house used to have electrical problems all the time. When I was a kid, staying at her house, she would take me to the generator in the basement whenever there was a blackout, and we would bring the power back together. I could probably get the power back on if we find the generator." Francine explained.

The rest of the group voiced their agreement, and soon, Fern was leading the way to the basement.

"I wonder why George hasn't struck yet…" Francine asked.

"George! If you're listening, then hear this: If I find you, I'm…I'm gonna pound you!" Binky threatened unconvincingly.

"You _sure _told him Binky…" Francine said sarcastically.

Again, the trip was uneventful.

_That can't be right…_ Fern thought. George could've taken them out easily if he had just laid traps. The lights were out, he had gone missing, and he should have known we'd be making our way to the basement to get the power back on. Laying traps would be the most logical and efficient way to pick them off under these circumstances. He _could _just be toying with us, but Fern knew what was more likely: that George was dead, and the killer was still among the group.

Fern swept her flashlight across the room and, sure enough, there was a generator. She handed her flashlight to Francine and said "It's all you." Francine made her way to the generator, took off the panel, and started fidgeting with the controls.

Eventually, the power was back on, and the room was illuminated. Unfortunately, it came with a price…

_BZZZZZZZT_

Francine's mouth was open, but no words came out as she shook up and down rapidly. Fern instantly realized what was happening.

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" she cried as Binky moved toward her. Eventually, Francine stopped shaking, and dropped to the ground, _dead_. "She was electrocuted. If you touched her, you would've gotten shocked, too." Binky gulped.

Fern warily approached the generator, and didn't need to peer inside to see what killed Francine: a loose wire, dangling near the entrance but out of view for someone sticking their hand in there with nothing more than a flashlight. It was shooting sparks now that the power was back on, but it must have looked harmless when Francine stuck her arm in.

Fern felt like a jinx. There _had _been a trap, right after she thought it was weird that there weren't any. Like everything else, the killer planned this, he _knew _we'd be coming to the basement, so he set up this trap for whoever decided to fix the generator.

The situation seemed hopeless. Thirteen people had walked into the lodge, and now there were four, with one missing. Fern looked at her three remaining friends. They looked back at her with scared eyes, waiting for directions.

"First, let's get out of here." Fern said, not wanting to be in a room with a dead body. She lead the way back up, and into the living room.

"Now what?" Maria asked. Fern had no idea.

"Now? Now, I find George and pound him!" Binky yelled.

"Binky, wait!" Fern tried to stop him.

"Back off!" Binky shoved Fern away.

"Hey! What's your problem?" Brain rushed to Fern's side.

"My problem? My problem?! My problem is, everyone's dying! We've been following Fern this entire time, and look where that got us! In fact, I'm starting to think _you're _the killer, and you've been misleading us…" Binky started toward Fern, still lying on the ground, with obvious malice. He raises his fist, ready to hit her, but Brain stops him.

"Let go of me! You've been in cahoots with Fern this whole time, haven't you? _Haven't you?!_" Binky started unloading fist after fist on Brain. Brain was in trouble – if she didn't do anything, Binky was going to beat him to death. And if Binky was the killer, he'd have no trouble taking out two girls…

Soon, the fight went south for Brain; Binky stood above him, a heavy bear clock in hand, and prepared to slam it on Brain's head. "Say _good night!_" Binky says. Fern started towards Binky to hold him back, but Maria was faster.

"Binky, stop!" she cried, trying to pull him off of Brain. Brain instantly took advantage of this, and with all his might, lunged forward at Binky, pushing him backwards. The heavy clock he held served to increase his momentum, and he started falling back fast...

…right into the lit fireplace.

Binky screamed as the flames engulfed him; Fern, Brain, and Maria were too frozen in horror to help him. The skin on his face turned a sickening black as the flames roasted him. Soon, his screams stopped, and he lay silent in the fire.

"Oh my _god!_" Maria cried out, as she _finally _pulled Binky from the fire.

"I…I _killed _him…" Brain said shakily. He dropped to his knees and cried. Now there were only three of them left, and one of them had to be the killer. Fern still had no idea; Brain had been helping her since the beginning, so she was more suspicious of Maria. She looked up at the ceiling, uttering a silent prayer to God. Just then, she noticed something – a golden plaque, hanging far above the fireplace. She hadn't noticed it when they entered, probably because it was so high up.

_Lockhart Manor_, the sign read. That was weird – if the Crosswires owned this lodge, they'd definitely change the plaque to read "Crosswire Manor", or "Muffy Manor". Maybe it was a historical site? No, Fern would have heard of it. Then she remembered something…

_"I can't believe Muffy has her own ski lodge!" _Francine's voice echoed in her head. How did she not know? She was Muffy's best friend; and a ski lodge seems like something she'd brag about. The obvious conclusion was that this _wasn't _her ski lodge; it must belong to the killer, and the killer's last name must be Lockhart.

Lockhart was a British surname, though Scottish people could have it as well.

Fern looked at her companions. She looked at Brain – his real name was Alan, Alan Powers. She doubted he was actually a Lockhart, as he was of African American descent, with no hints of European heritage. Then there was George, whom Fern was almost certain was dead. George Lundgren – again, not a Lockhart, as George was Swedish. European, but still different.

And then there was Maria, whose surname Fern was not aware of. As Fern looked at her, she looked scared; not the same scared look she had before, but the sort of scared look you get when someone finds out your secret.

Another scene played out in Fern's mind – Buster's death. More specifically, the scream that woke her…

"_ree-YAAAAUUGH_" Buster yelled. That was an odd scream – probably because it wasn't a scream at all, but a name! Ma-ree-yah. Maria. Buster must have been screaming the name of the killer, and Fern didn't even notice it.

As for the other deaths…the first three were easy – anyone could've pulled them off and had an alibi. For Prunella, Maria must've lay awake and picked her off when Arthur, Francine, Jenna, and Binky left to look for a phone. It could've been Brain or George too, but she doubted that, as they were sleeping right next to her, and Fern was a light sleeper – they wouldn't be able to move without bumping into Fern and waking her up. Maria was further away.

**A/N: They were sleeping in a line. It went Brain, Fern, George, Maria. **

George was easy – when they scattered, she could have killed hi,m hidden his body, and spread his moose polish on the fateful second step of the staircase. Then, Jenna slipped and fell to her death…

Arthur got himself killed when he walked into the blizzard.

For Francine, she could have set the generator trap way before we arrived at the lodge.

And for Binky…well, Brain did that one for her.

"Maria…" Fern started. Maria looked fearful. "What's your last name?"

"M-my last name?" she asked, as if she couldn't hear clearly.

"Yes, your last name." Fern repeated.

She panicked, formulating a believable response.

"Umm, G-goldwater, yes, Goldwater! Maria Goldwater!"

Fern cursed herself for being so direct. She should have thought this through, and tried to trick her into admitting her last name. Then, she remembered Buster's approach to sleuthing, back when they were helping prove Binky's innocence in the graffiti case.

* * *

**A/N: Excerpt taken mostly from "Binky Rules" by Marc Brown.**

_"This may be a case where we want to work both forward and backward." Fern said._

_Buster frowned. "What does that mean?"_

_Fern opened her notebook and consulted the first page, which consisted of diagrams of the crime scenes. "We go forward by examining the graffiti site. We look for clues that may lead us to whoever's responsible. But we can also work backward from the idea that whoever is doing this is doing so with the intent of getting Binky in trouble. Otherwise, there's no point in using his name. So if we can figure out who that is, we may be able to catch them in the act."_

_Buster was speechless – she sounded like a professional! "That's amazing!" he cried out. "You thought of that all by yourself?"_

_Fern nodded. "I've read a lot of mystery novels, and it's important to get yourself thinking the right way."_

_Buster nodded, understanding. "I guess thinking's important, but you have to act like a detective, too. People tend to spill the beans when they believe you've got them cornered like a rat on a sinking ship."_

* * *

Buster's advice was just what she needed to do here. Silently thanking Buster, she pressed on in her questioning more aggressively.

"Maria Goldwater, huh? That's not what Brain told me. Right, Brain?" she looked at Brain, hoping he'd play along.

He did. He saw the "Lockhart Manor" sign that Fern saw.

"Actually, I helped Mr. Ratburn grade papers before. I've never seen a 'Maria Goldwater', but I _have _seen a 'Maria _Lockhart_'." Brain lied perfectly.

It worked. Maria confessed to lying. "Okay, fine, so my last name is Lockhart, so what?"

"This lodge is named 'Lockhart Manor'. This was _your _family's manor. _You're _the killer." Fern accused.

"N-no! I'm not, I swear! Okay, _yes, _this used to be my family's manor until it was bought out by Muffy's family, but-"

"A-hah! So that's why Muffy's death was the most grisly! _Revenge._" Brain said.

"No! Sure, my parents were mad when they were bought out, but I would never do this! Never!"

"Enough. The jig is up, Maria." Fern and Brain approached her.

"No! Fern, _please_, we're friends! You know I'd never do this!"

"I don't even know who you _are _anymore." Fern replied.

Maria was cornered. Fern and Brain continued approaching slowly to apprehend her. Then, from out of nowhere, she whipped out a gun…

"BACK OFF! BACK THE HELL OFF!" she yelled. She was hysterical! She alternated pointing the gun at Fern and Brain. Neither moved a muscle.

"You had a gun the whole time?!" Fern was incredulous. Then again, of course the killer would carry a gun: if things got out of hand, she could have just pulled it out and killed them all.

"You're crazy! You obviously _are _the killer!" Brain yelled.

"I AM _NOT _THE KILLER! YOU HEAR ME?! NOT. THE. KILLER!" her voice was strained, she was panting, and her knuckles were white from gripping the gun so tightly.

"Maria, calm down…let's talk this over…" Fern said calmly, taking a step forward.

"NO! Binky was right, you've been leading us around this entire time, getting us killed! You _ARE _the killer! And I'm gonna blow your damn head off!" she screamed, getting ready to pull the trigger. Fern closed her eyes and screamed. The sound of the gun going off rang throughout the room. But Fern felt nothing. When she opened her eyes, she saw Maria, mouth agape and eyes wide as saucers. She swayed for a bit, then leaned against the wall and slowly slid down, leaving behind a trail of blood. Fern was dumbfounded – she looked at Brain, and he was standing there, pistol in hand, with no emotion in his face.

"Th-thanks, Brain." Fern sputtered.

"Don't mention it." he replied icily.

Fern still felt uneasy about what just happened. Maria denied being the killer to the bitter end – wouldn't the real killer – put in her situation – wouldn't he calmly admit it and finish us off? Or maybe gloat about it first, and _then _shoot us?

Fern then realized her mistake. Her very, very big mistake. Maria wasn't the killer…it was _Brain_.

She turned to face him. He was already pointing the gun at her. "_Brain… You're the killer!"_

_"_Hmph. You surprised me. From the way things were going, I thought you'd be accusing George by now." he said.

Fern looked fearfully at the gun that was pointed directly at her. She thought of snatching it out of his hands the way he did to Maria, but knew that would never work in a million years. So she decided to stall.

"But…_why?_" She asked.

Brain laughed. "Because...each of you mongrels has wronged me somehow. Muffy's incessant mechanical pencil clicking distracted me on several tests, causing me to miss a few questions. Sue Ellen was more knowledgeable than me in certain subjects. Mr. Ratburn gave me an A- on my report, but I knew I deserved an A. Buster kept disagreeing with me on movies. Prunella blackmailed me about my being held back a year. Jenna won the sports award that should have gone to me. George kept making a mess at my family's restaurant by dunking his dummy's face into ice cream. Arthur made me nervous, causing me to lose that one spelling bee. Francine was just a douche in general – there were so many times I've wanted to kill her over an argument. Binky used to take my lunch money all the time. Maria got a better grade than me on one project, and wouldn't stop rubbing it in my face. And _you_…you tricked me into believing worms were taking over the world, causing me to make a fool of myself."

_So, my first guess was right. Go figure._ Fern thought, remembering how she suspected Brain in the beginning.

Brain paused. "But the main reason I did this…" he said. "...was to see if I could pull it off. And I did. You, little miss detective, couldn't figure out _I _was the killer, until we were the last two left! I'm a genius!"

Fern was horrified. He killed us for sport!

"And now…time to die."

Fern panicked. She needed to stall until she had a plan.

"H-how?" she asked meekly.

"How what?"

"How did you pull all of this off? Y'know, just in case I want to novelize it someday…" she stalled.

"Hmm. Stalling for time, huh? Very well, I will humor you. On Thursday, I prepared. I typed out the invitations, set up the ski equipment at the lodge, murdered the groundskeeper there, and prepared the food and poisoned the vegan soup for Sue Ellen. Then on Friday morning, I shot and killed Muffy's butler, drugged Muffy, and stuffed her body into one of my bags. At school, before anyone came, I stuffed the invitations into your lockers. What happened next wasn't significant. We went to the lodge, skied for a bit, and then ate dinner – Sue Ellen ate the poisoned soup but didn't die until later. Now for the murders." Brain paused.

"Muffy was actually the first to die. I left early on in dinner. I took Muffy out of my bag, brought her to the golden room, and tied her up and gagged her. Oh, the look in her eyes when she saw me. I read out her list of crimes – something I wished I could have done for all of my victims, but didn't for fear of getting caught early – and gave her a few good smacks with the bloody baseball bat you no doubt found lying in the corner. Then, I cut open her chest, grabbed her still-beating heart, and crushed it. I also left a little message on the wall, to tell the world who died here."

Fern covered her mouth and nearly vomited. _Focus, _she thought. _Think of a plan to get out of this!_

"Sue Ellen was apparently the second one to die. You guessed right about the soup, but was only partially right about how it was the only food you wouldn't be able to detect poison in – I could have poisoned everything there, but that wouldn't be fun, would it?"

"Mr. Ratburn was the third to die. I asked him to meet with me secretly at midnight, to discuss politics and such. After that, it was all a matter of getting his back turned to me, then slitting his throat from behind. Unfortunately, Buster was snooping around at just the right moment…which brings me to the next murder."

"Buster started screaming his lungs out – I knew he had woken you guys up. I had to silence him, _fast_. He ran, but I was faster – you know how good I was at soccer. I don't know why he yelled ree-YAUUUGH. Then again, Buster's sort of a puzzle. After I put the knife in his back, I ran in the other direction, and silently joined you guys as you mourned his death."

Fern saw no way out of this. She was going to die, and she knew it. She resigned herself to just listening to Brain's recounting his murders. It _was _just like something out of a book – so Fern would at least be entertained for the last few minutes of her short life.

"Next to die was Prunella. This one was more of a lucky kill – the opportunity presented itself, so I took it. When Prunella was left to watch us alone, I got up, pretending to sleepwalk around the corner, heading towards the kitchen. Prunella followed to try and stop me – it _was _your suggestion that no one ever be left alone. I turned the corner, waited for her to come, then covered her mouth and injected potassium cyanide into her neck. She died in seconds. After that, I just stuffed her body in a nearby closet and went back to sleep."

"But how did you do all that without waking any of us up?" Fern asked.

"George and Maria were relatively far from me, so _you _were the only one I had to worry about. I injected you with a sleeping agent."

**A/N: Again, the formation was Brain, Fern, George, Maria lol.**

Fern felt her neck again – so _that's _what that was: not a pimple, but a shot.

Brain paused for a bit.

"Go on…" Fern said.

"Aren't you going to ask why I didn't kill you three in your sleep?" he asked.

"That's obvious. If the three of us died and you survived, who would the prime suspect be? Or even if only one of us died, that would still bring attention to you, since you were one of the only ones there."

"Hmm, you've redeemed yourself, Fern. That was a good deduction. Very well, I'll move on." Brain said.

"George was the next one to die. It's a shame we never got to see his body. I set it up so nicely. I cut his head off and mounted it in his room. I was hoping you guys would go there to look for his antler polish, but then the power went out. I planned _that, _too, by the way, but that's a different murder."

"Arthur's death was unfortunate – for me, that is, because I wanted to kill him myself. There's no way he could have survived the blizzard. But I guess as a consolation, his body will be buried under all that snow, and probably won't be found for years."

"Francine's death was another easy one. I played around with the generator Thursday, sometime after murdering the groundskeeper. I rigged it to shut off sometime late at night, and cut a wire loose near the opening for whoever was going to fix it."

"Binky's death was a close call. I thought he was really going to kill me! But then Maria distracted him, giving me an opportunity to push him off of me. I was prepared to pull my knife out and cut him, then proceed to cut you and Maria, but luckily he fell into the fire, allowing me to drag this party further."

Fern was disgusted. He got some kind of sick pleasure from doing this!

"Maria's death was another close call. I actually didn't know about the mansion having previously belonged to her family. I felt a little bad for her, knowing how painful it was to be wronged. But since she was already here, I _had _to kill her. When she pulled the gun, I nearly crapped myself. I thought I was done for, but again, an opportunity arose to turn the tables, and I took it." Brain paused. "Which brings us to _you_."

"I'm guessing you're wondering why I left you for last." he asked.

Fern _was _wondering for a while. If the killer _was _one of them, they'd surely try to take out the biggest threat first, right? But from the way Brain recounted the murders, and how proud he was of their ingeniousness, she could guess. "To mock me." she said flatly.

To her surprise, Brain said "No, that's not it, actually. You were a pretty good detective, keeping cool under pressure, and finding evidence of Maria being the killer, evidence that I couldn't have come up with. But the real reason I left you for last…was to challenge myself. I wanted to see if I could remain undetected even under scrutiny from Elwood City's greatest detective."

Brain's praise was a small consolation for what was about to happen.

"Story time's over, Fern. Now you _die_." He said, getting ready to shoot.

Fern was out of time. She thought of closing her eyes, to let death come suddenly and unexpectedly; but she remembered a quote from a movie: "_Look them in the eye when they shoot you. They'll remember you._" So she steeled herself, ignored the gun, and looked Brain straight in the eye.

"_Do it._" she taunted him.

Brain just laughed. "As you wish…"

A gunshot rang in the room. Fern still stood, unharmed. The same could not be said of Brain.

"What the-" Brain said incredulously as blood oozed from the wound in his chest. Fern was confused, as well. Another gunshot struck Brain, this time impacting his head. He crumples and falls to the floor, lifeless. Three SWAT officers emerge from the shadows, training their guns on Fern. But…where did they come from?

A familiar voice touched Fern's ears. "She's not the killer." The SWAT officers nodded and started towards the three corpses in the room (Binky, Maria, and Brain).

"Arthur!" she called, overjoyed that she wasn't the only survivor. "But…how?"

"How did I survive the blizzard? I didn't – or, I wouldn't have if it weren't for Ladonna."

"Ladonna?" But she wasn't even invited to the party!

"She was out exploring the mountain with her dad. They found me unconscious about twenty yards from the main road. When I woke up, I told them everything that had happened. They called the cops, and I lead them to the lodge." He looked at the corpses of Maria and Binky. "It's a shame we didn't arrive in time to save them," he says, gesturing to the bodies. "Did anyone else survive?"

Fern sank to her knees. "No…no one else…" she said quietly. Arthur nodded solemnly.

**A/N: Ahhh Brain was the killer! Ehehe. I'll probably just whip up an epilogue, then an afterword explaining the other two ideas I had for the killer. Also, lol I threw Ladonna in there at the last minute :p.**


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